The COMMANDO
On June 22, 2013, during an engagement with insurgents in the Khod Valley in southern Afghanistan, Corporal Cameron Baird, a 2nd Commando Regiment Special Forces soldier, was mortally wounded while leading his platoon into a known Taliban stronghold to back-up another Australian unit under heavy fire. In 2014, Cam’s courage saw him posthumously awarded the 100th Victoria Cross — our highest award possible for bravery in the presence of the enemy. He died how he lived — at the front, giving it his all. However, as the following extract from a book by Ben Mckelvey reveals, this was only one of many heroic missions Cam led while serving his country in Afghanistan…
TARIN KOWT, AFGHANISTAN, 2007–08
In mid-2007 Cam Baird and the men of Bravo Company were put on buses and taken to Sydney airport. With relaxed grooming protocols in effect, many of the guys were already growing the beards that are almost a prerequisite for special forces soldiers on deployment. Most were wearing Merrell Moab boots, commonly used in place of the Army’s standard-issue boots. Cam was an exception: he rarely wore anything that wasn’t Army-issue.
Although the commandos were supposed to be incognito at the airport, one
